I’ve been sitting on this recipe for a while, for no particular reason. With the brisk fall winds blowing and cooler temperatures setting in, it seemed like a good time to bust it out. Not to mention it goes well with my growing urge to cuddle up with a bowl of warm comfort food, a beer and a book. That is exactly what I’m going to do when I am done writing this post, by the way.

It’s been another busy week. Dave is traveling quite a bit and I am holding down the fort at work while my boss is away. I’m really proud of myself – I made it to the gym in between taking Dave to the airport early this morning and attending a bakery opening for breakfast, and THEN going to my job for the day and THEN attending a baby shower. Hm, now that I type that, it seems like it’s been quite the busy day.

I’m looking forward to tomorrow night because I’m just going to come home, hunker down and work on making a new dress until Dave gets home from Los Angeles. I have several new patterns (thanks, Mary! ) to choose from and honestly I am not sure which I’m going to do next. I bought a couple of patterns and some fabric I might not have otherwise because a local JoAnn’s is moving and had a big sale, so I also have the option of attempting my first pair of pants (in a very attractive grey corduroy, I might add). The only problem: the zippers were all gone at the clearanced-out JoAnn. So before I get started I need to go buy zippers.

But this is a food blog (although, maybe I should post about sewing sometimes. What do you think?) Back to the macaroni. Another nice thing about this particular recipe is that you can use basically whatever cheese you have on hand. I couldn’t even tell you what all types we put in this. Just that in the process, our cheese drawer went from a wedge nub graveyard to an empty rind preservation society in a hurry. And now I can use the rinds in soups! I totally planned that. Yes I did.

Here’s what you need:
1/2 lb. short pasta
2 Tbsp. butter
3 Tbsp. AP flour
3/4 cup cream
3/4 cup milk
2 cups mixed types of grated white cheese
Salt and pepper

For this recipe, we used what was left in our fridge from several chunks of various types of white cheese. I do not recommend using more than 1/4 mozzarella in this because it doesn’t melt into a sauce as nicely as harder white cheeses. Otherwise, the mix is up to you.

In one pot, boil water and start your pasta cooking according to the package directions.

In a different large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour to the butter and whisk together. Cook for two to three minutes, until the flour has a nutty aroma.

Add in the cream and milk, and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. After reaching a boil, remove the milk from the heat and stir in the mixed shredded cheese. Keep warm over very low heat, stirring frequently, until the pasta is cooked. Drain the pasta, reserving a little bit of pasta water, and add the noodles to the sauce in the pan and toss to coat. Salt and pepper to taste, and thin the sauce with pasta water if you so desire (we did not, but some folks like a thinner sauce). I also drizzled a little bit of truffle oil on top.